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From the moment the first French colonists settled in the area in the middle of the seventeenth century, this area was known by several names including La Petite Montagne, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Côte-Saint-Antoine. A former farmhouse from this era, Hurtubise House, still stands and is currently under renovation.

The Village of Côte St-Antoine was first incorporated in 1874. It later became the Town of Côte St-Antoine.

It was renamed Westmount, in 1895, reflecting the geographical location of the city on the southwest slope of Mount Royal and the presence of a large English-speaking population.

During the twentieth century, Westmount became a wealthy Montreal suburb; a small city dotted with many green spaces. Architect Robert Findlay, a resident in the early twentieth century, designed many municipal buildings in the city, including the library, Westmount City Hall and several other buildings of public order.

In 2001, while trying to prevent Westmount from being amalgamated into the city of Montreal, Westmount Mayor Peter Trent and city council asserted that the city was a designated anglophone institution and should not be merged into francophone greater Montreal. In response to this opposition, Municipal Affairs Minister Louise Harel said that Westmount's resistance "reeked of colonialism" and that the opposition was an "ethnic project", statements for which she would refuse to apologize.[5] When asked for comment, Quebec Premier Bernard Landry said the minister had his full support and that the opposition was little more than Quebec bashing.[6] Several federalist public figures criticized Landry's statement: Jean Charest called it insulting to the intelligence of the citizens of Quebec; Joseph Gabary, president of the Quebec Chapter of the Canadian Jewish Congress, called the language "crude"; Alliance Quebec also criticized the premier for singling out the city for special criticism.[7]

The city is roughly 4 km2 (1.5 sq mi), and occupies an area of land on the south face of the southern peak of Mount Royal. The city, most of which is on steep terrain, extends from the summit to the end of the narrow plateau at the foot of the mountain.

Located between Sherbrooke Street and De Maisonneuve Boulevard to the north and south, and Melville and Lansdowne Avenue to the east and west, this 1,141,002 sq ft (106,002.6 m2) park is the second largest in Westmount.

The landscaping design was undertaken in 1912 by M.J. Manning, and comprises large playing fields at the east and south sides, and Westmount Arena and adjacent swimming pool at the southwest corner. The central area contains an extensive playground, footpaths, ponds and wading pools, and tennis courts. Westmount Public Library, built in 1897,[9]Victoria Hall, and a large greenhouse are located on the north side.[10]

Since regaining its status as a city, Westmount is governed by a City Council made up of a mayor and eight "district" councillors. The current mayor of Westmount is Christina Smith, who was elected interim mayor at a special council meeting on April 24, 2017, following the retirement of long-serving Mayor Peter Trent. Smith later went on to win an election November 5, 2017 to remain mayor. In addition to the local city council, Westmount is represented by its mayor on the Montreal Agglomeration Council.

The income per-capita for a household is $210,120[12] one of the highest in North America. The largest occupation categories were 33.0% employed in management occupations, 20.3% in business, finance, and administration occupations, and 15.4% in social science, education, government service and religion occupations.

There were 8,460 households out of which 26.2% had children living with them, 47.5% were married couples living together, 6.7% had a female lone-parent as a householder, and 35.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average married-couple family size was 3.1.

The age distribution was 15.7% under the age of 15, 11.9% from 15 to 24, 22.9% from 25 to 44, 28.6% from 45 to 64, and 20.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 83.7 males. For every 100 females age 15 and over, there were 80.2 males.

About 27% of the population is foreign-born, most having immigrated since 1991. Visible minorities constitute 14% of the population (Chinese 3%, Arab 2.8%, Latin American 2.1%, West Asian 1.6%, South Asian 1.3%).[13] Residents declared their religions as Catholic (31.0%), Jewish (22%),[14]Protestant (21.5%), Christian Orthodox (3.7%), Muslim (2.7%) and other Christian (1.9%).

Language

Victoria Hall in Westmount.

Westmount's residents are predominantly bilingual: 76.4% can speak both English and French, 20.1% of the population can speak only English, 2.6% can speak only French.

Westmount was home of the Montreal Arena, the third arena in history to be built specifically for hockey. It was the home rink for the Montreal Wanderers, one of the great teams of the early hockey era, as well as the legendary Montreal Canadiens. The arena burned down in 1918, causing the Wanderers to disband.

Westmount's Westmount Arena is part of a joint arena and pool complex built in 1959. The arena honours early Montreal ice hockey teams with replica Stanley Cup banners. It is home to the Westmount Wings, Lasalle/Westmount Cobras and was the home of the Westmount Predators that are no longer active.

Westmount is home to the Westmount Lynx Lacrosse Club, which has field lacrosse teams for boys and girls aged 8–16.